Iti Techmedia is investing £4.3million in a research and development programme aimed at reducing mistakes in software design.

The funding body hopes the money will trim common critical errors earlier in the coding process.

The Software Integrity Engineering programme plans to develop technology making it easier to identify and prevent problems before the expensive testing phase or a product reaches the market.

With the complex nature of software coding and development even the tiniest of errors can have serious consequences from computer crashes to the disruption of industrial processes. ITI believes developing innovative software tools in mainstream programming languages, such as Java and C++, could have significant commercial benefits.

At the moment the market for these types of tools is estimated to be worth around £1billion annually but that figure is expected to almost double by 2016.

Terry Hurley, managing director of ITI Techmedia, is keen to work with companies who may have an interest in the R&D programme.

He said: "Our research indicates that there is a clear market need for better solutions to help reduce the number of critical errors in software design.

"Software development is undoubtedly getting mo re complex and sophisticated with increasing pressure to get to market quickly."

Dunfermline-based BitWise plus English firms Mindsheet and Roke Manor Research have been contracted to undertake the initial work.

However, further organisations are likely to be added as the project progresses.